Our Outdoors: Feeling Froggy
By Nick Simonson
The midsummer migration has begun. With more and more regularity, I’m seeing young-of-the-year salamanders, toads and frogs making their movements between their rearing grounds, which are usually small oxbows along the waters I fish, or seasonal pools such as the retention and stock ponds around our neighborhood. In the morning under the lengthening light of the streetlamps ahead of dawn, these soft-skinned creatures look to wrap their nocturnal forays into the great big world around their birthwaters with a shady place to hide and avoid the summer heat.
For many, this journey ends in a relocation nearer to larger waters such as lakes and rivers and the cool, dense grasses along their edges. Thus, it’s not surprising to find frogs at the water’s edge in great abundance at this time of year. For anglers, this sudden appearance of a new forage base can change the game for all species and adds an edge to explore in the fishing equation. As this year’s crop of newly-mobilized froglets and their relative inexperience with the dangers lurking in bigger waters provide an easy meal for bass, walleyes, pike and catfish, it’s important to consider targeting those areas for better success.
A late July outing in my journal stands out from many years ago for just that reason. I had returned home from taking the bar exam to get my law license and sweat out the six-week waiting period to see whether or not I had passed. Turning to my favorite stress reliever, my buddy and I paddled upstream the following morning to explore some favorite spring fishing haunts and see how the heat of summer had changed them. My buddy dropped me off on the far bank of the river and positioned the canoe upstream from me. As I stepped through the dense cover and found my footing on the grassy ledge over the water, a dozen young frogs sprang forth from the cover, with a number of them hitting the water and scooting back to the edge of the bank. All except one, that is.
A large boil spun up to the surface and I took note that it was unlikely that little frog made it back, consumed by the whatever-it-was lurking in the break off the ledge. I pitched my jig and twister parallel to the shore and worked it back over the spot where the swirl came from. While my offering didn’t look like the brown and green northern leopard frogs taking the risky plunge, it didn’t matter much as a sudden strike had me setting the hook on a sixteen-inch walleye that quickly came to hand and into the five-gallon bucket beside me. It would be the first instance that I’d experience hungry summertime walleyes keying in on such an odd place, and what seemed like a nontraditional food source – but it wouldn’t be the last.
For the rest of that morning and in seasons to come, we’d find many fish in that river along similar stretches and in other waters as well, keying in along those spaces where enough water depth along the bank provided a spot to position, and summer’s natural pattern provided the unwary forage. In addition to walleyes and smallmouth bass, northern pike, and catfish key in on these places and any fish big enough to inhale these amphibians likely will as well.
Now, as the heat and humidity build once again and summer comes roaring back to the region, consider these early morning sightings and those you make in the grassy stretches along your favorite water. Wherever frogs, toads and salamanders make contact with their first big water experience, you’ll likely find your favorite game fish waiting for their appearance as well. Along with the sweat of summer and the tinny buzz of mosquitoes, it’s quite possible you’ll also get that froggy feeling this time of year and turn it into some exciting angling…in our outdoors.
Our Outdoors: Make It Move
Our Outdoors: Make It Move
By Nick Simonson
Save for the always aggressive northern pike, a straight retrieve on a lure rarely sets off a fish. Even trolling a crankbait or reeling one in, a little jarring motion or the banging of rocks, timber or other obstruction in the substrate gives off a wild vibe that triggers a reaction from following fish. The name of a “jig” along suggests what you’re supposed to do with it – make it dance! Especially as summer settles in across the region and fish feed in earnest heading toward the cooler water season (I know, it’s best if you don’t think about it) adding a little more action to any lure can help trigger more bites. What follows are a few suggestions to get the most motion into your lures to help put more fish in the boat.
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The simple twitch or snap of the rod tip in even the slightest amount can provide enough action for any lure, be it a plastic dressed jig, a bass worm, or a retrieved jerkbait or crankbait. This slight motion helps make the lure look like it’s just an edible creature that’s just a little bit wounded to draw the attention of a nearby predator. Like the wolves on the weakest member of an elk herd, big fish find the stragglers in the baitfish school by similar cues. The motion need not be large or a super long sweep, either. Simply snapping the rod tip to send out that impression that something is wrong with the whatever-it-is moving through the water, gives the impression that it is an easy meal. Keep this in mind when casting spoons, working jigs, or maneuvering plastic offerings through structure; a little snap goes a long way in setting fish off.
Head Banging
Similarly, working lures in and around structure that holds summer fish is a great way to catch their attention, even more so if you can bang the bill of a crankbait off a rock or a concrete slab, or skitter a crayfish imitator off a rock or a sunken stump and let it freefall down to the bottom once again. Having lures make contact with and around structure, and have the obstructions adjust their trajectory can provide the extra uniqueness to your offering that predators just can’t resist, setting up an reaction strike and the ensuing hookset. Whether trolled over rocky substrate, or cast through a boulder field, careening crankbaits off of stones of any sort helps throw this erratic motion into the mix, and a lot of strikes come just after contact.
The Pause
Finally, sometimes the best motion is no motion at all. For suspending crankbaits that have a slight rise to them, or the slow-falling wiggle of soft plastic sticks, sometimes just letting lures hang there after a few quick darts or pulls is what triggers the aggression of bass, muskies, walleyes, and other predator species. It’s almost as if the fish think they’d better snatch up a quick snack while they can, before it gets a better idea and starts moving again. Work pauses into those aggressive cadences and give fish a quick second to make their decision to strike. Sometimes doing nothing can be the best tactic in triggering a hit, especially in slower times or when fish are short-striking or just following lures into the boat.
Working these tactics along with varying depths and speeds at which lures are retrieved can help put together the daily and seasonal puzzles presented by favorite predator species. Learning the cadence and even the non-motion of lures that set fish off is a fun experience, and finding the pattern that pays off the best can incorporate all three of these options and more. Add a few twitches to get the attention of fish, bang your baits into available structure to change their path, and perhaps add a pause or two to the pattern. Go through the motions and put it all together this summer and you’re more than likely to find increased success for whatever predator species you pursue…in our outdoors.
Our Outdoors: Duality
Our Outdoors: Duality
By Nick Simonson
Second perhaps to the day after New Years, the Sunday following the Fourth of July is one of my most dreaded days of the year. I know it’s just a number, and I know that health and fitness overall is more than the red-line numerals on the readout in the dim light of my bathroom on that inevitable morning; but man is it disappointing to see where a holiday week’s worth of bratwursts, chips, snacks, parade candy, and less than healthy beverage choices have put me when it comes to that weigh-in.
However, I also find that same Sunday to be one of the most optimistic of the year as well. With the completion of the holiday, summer’s unofficial midpoint has come and gone and that means without regret, those of us eyeing up bird counts, awaiting a deer license in the mail, and firing off salvos of arrows at the foam block in the back yard, can begin thinking of the hunting seasons to come. The first of which being the early Canada goose management take in mid-August, is really just four weeks away, with dove opener being a couple weeks after that on Sept. 1. Then grouse, and pheasants, and then deer. And then the holiday eating season begins. And I’m back where I began, staring at the red numbers on the display on January 2.
But I’m getting ahead of myself, as usual.
The combination of disappointment and optimism at this point in the calendar actually works to my advantage, and to that of many hunters. It’s a great time to reset and see what is needed, physically and otherwise, to prepare for the upcoming fall. Looking across the region, things are setting up for a stronger upland season, which means being able to hike through the hills and over long distances of prairie will be important. For those waterfowlers too, Canada geese are as numerous as they’ve ever been, and duck populations saw a slight increase this spring as well in the breeding counts, meaning multiple hauls of the decoys from field to trailer will make for a pre-dawn workout on many occasions this autumn. No matter how you do it – bow, rifle or muzzleloader – deer hunting is always made better by a hike into the hills or out to the stand and being fit for that walk or even just a sit on high, is always to your advantage.
So with the idea that all of these great opportunities sit before us and that no matter what shape we’re in after joining Joey Chestnut in a record-breaking hot dog eating extravaganza yet again, we’re ready to work toward those goals. Whether they’re just easy strolls behind an older hunting dog, or a dead sprint after a pup on his first running rooster, now is the time for the preparation that pays off in just a few weeks. The nice part of wanting to drop a couple pounds, or a few seconds off a mile time, or some extra kilometers in a running journal is that doing so will make you a better hunter, but the best part is that you can do it any way you choose, and at any fitness level.
Simply walking around the block, on a nearby nature trail, or around a local track is a great way to start getting more active, but don’t stop there! Outdoor-focused activities like hikes through the wilderness, or paddling a kayak or canoe, burn calories and help you get to fun, fishable places that integrate the back half of summer’s best recreational activity with some physical activity as well. Don’t overlook weight training either. Pumping iron helps burn fat over the long haul as muscle gets added, and making sure not to skip leg day and work in a quick shot of abs will have your lower section ready to charge up that favorite hill which holds grouse and partridge, or plow through that deep slough to pheasant nirvana with ease. Additionally, the added strength makes setting up that new ladder stand for archery season a whole lot easier.
By the time Labor Day weekend rolls around, with a few steps in the right direction, those numbers on the scale will have faded from memory and you’ll be ready to make some far better ones this autumn. Work walks, runs, and weightlifting in, along with those workouts in the outdoors which may be less monotonous and more adventurous, and you’ll be all set to get to those places where birds and deer are found and set yourself up for better health, fitness and ultimately more success…in our outdoors.
Our Outdoors: A Parade of Progeny
Our Outdoors: A Parade of Progeny
By Nick Simonson
There was almost an air of concern in my mom’s voice as I wandered back in from my morning stroll to the end of the dock to watch the sunrise and inspect the shallows. A few quick casts of the neon green fly line sporting a beadhead pheasant tail nymph connected with a handful of small bluegills, but before long it was time to refill my coffee cup, walk the dog and get on with the day.
“Have you seen the ducklings yet,” she inquired from her early morning post at the table on the wooden deck, adding “I’ve seen the hen but no babies so far.”
I assured her that my wife and I had seen a set of nine baby mallards in tow behind the beige bird shortly after our arrival at the cabin for the holiday weekend and that they’d likely be along soon as the morning got moving. Through the whisk and snap of the screen door, I went in and refilled my cup, leashed my mom’s lab, and headed out the back way, the first morning calls from a cardinal greeting us as we hit the blacktop and began our trek through the nearby neighborhood on the south side of the lake. At the first intersection, a whitetail doe and her fawn caught sight of us and were quickly into the woods without so much as a twig snapping.
Squirrels of all shades, including a couple of the areas notable black hued ones were foraging. Chipmunks skittered amidst the leaf litter, and red squirrels chattered out a warning as we traversed the paved edge of their territory. Wrapping up where we started, a pair of boisterous crows cawed loudly, and their developing young gave a half-hearted response from their concealed position somewhere in the trees along the house. The heat and humidity of the first day of July was building already and a seat near the water was a welcome end to the walk as the sun started to rise through the trees.
No sooner did I make my way out to the front deck when the hen mallard appeared with her young, about a third of the way grown so far, swimming along the sandy shoreline. Alerting my mom, we watched as the birds drifted under the dock and out of view. The sighting seemed to bring for her a sense of relief that indeed the natural world was proceeding as planned this season, and that likely with nine babies under her care, a good crop of ducks would be coming up.
A few moments later, about 10 yards further out, a pair of Canada geese guided their four offspring along, this time out and around the end of the dock. While they’re certainly not rare on our side of the lake, with its development, dogs and all sorts of water activity throughout the summer, we usually only see them in the early stretches of the day, when things are calmer, and they were likely right on the edge of that window, adding a welcome surprise to the tally of young birds we were quickly putting together. But the next set of visitors would blow them all away in terms of count and uniqueness.
Like a floating carpet of black and white, led by an extended reddish-brown head, a group of more than 20 puffballs came floating in just moments after the geese had passed, as if on cue for some sort of grand entrance. Unable to clearly figure out what kind of mother was leading this set of young – which I had never seen before on our shores, perhaps a function of timing in the past or seasonal shifts this year – I picked up my phone and reluctantly unlocked the screen to get a digital field guide in front of me. It was a common merganser, and by the time I had identified the piscivorous water bird, the lot of youngsters and their mother had taken a spot occupying about half the length of the foam swimming pad attached to our dock.
We watched in silence as the little ones waddled about, sat down, dried off and the mother bird preened from her spot between the babies and the shoreline, a certain display that across the board baby birds were exactly where they were supposed to be this season. It was if in the last 15 minutes of early morning, before the first water skiers, wakeboarders and jetski pilots got up and on the lake that all of the birds in residence – some common and some less familiar –knew it was their time for a parade of their progeny and a showcase of the generation to come…in our outdoors.